10+ Gantt Chart Examples – XLS

We come to a point in our lives where we have so many things to do that we do not know what to do first and how to start doing it. We become too cluttered that we end up delaying the things that must be done first and we fail to meet the deadlines. You may also see daily chart examples & samples.

Many of us have arrived at different solutions in order to do our different tasks efficiently. Among the tools that greatly help people organize their general schedule, not just for their daily lives but for the companies that they are working as well, is the Gantt chart.

This serves as a way to have an organized plan on what to do first, the duration of the task, and other things you can still do in parallel to and while you are still doing the first task. This is an effective tool that helps the user to prioritize the things that should come first and the prerequisites. Learn more about Gantt charts in this article in the next sections.

Comprehensive Gantt Chart Example

Concise Gantt Chart Example

Gantt Chart Defined

Developed by Henry L. Gantt in 1917, this horizontal bar chart is developed as a production tool and is frequently used in project management, providing graphical illustration of a schedule for planning, coordinating, and tracking specific tasks in a certain project. You may also see measurement chart examples.

The horizontal axis or bars represent the total time span it would take to complete a certain project, for example, days, week, or months. On the other hand, the vertical axis or bars represent the tasks needed to be completed within the specific period of time. You may also like food chart examples.

Organized Gantt Chart Template Example

Detailed Gantt Chart Example

Benefits of Gantt Chart

Gantt chart is a visual representation of tasks that must be done within a certain period of time. With Gantt chart, the system of tasks will be organized and there will be proper implementation of those tasks. There are a lot more benefits that a Gantt chart can offer to its users, and they are as follows:

1. Manageability

Gantt chart can be of so much help to project managers who are handling complex assignment in a way that it provides a visual representation of the pieces of a project puzzle that needs to be arranged. In this way, the project manager can easily organize and manage them and they can make more focused and effective decisions about resources and timetables. You may also see chart note examples.

2. Time Management

Time is of the essence in completing a project, and every entity cannot afford to waste any time as this is the most important resource of the entity. Gantt chart provides an understanding of the overall impact of project delays and what else can you do during these delays. You may also like music chart examples.

3. Flexibility

It is expected in an entity that they will undergo revisions frequently in their plans as well as their schedules. With a lot of online Gantt chart generators and templates available, the entity can easily revise their general plans, adapting to unexpected changes in the scope of the project or timeline. Revisions are important to give a realistic view of the project to help the team recover from setbacks or adjust to the changes brought about by different factors.

4. Efficiency

Maximum efficiency is guaranteed when you use a Gantt chart for your projects. This is so because you will clearly know whether or not you can do simultaneous tasks. To simplify things, for example, in cooking scrambled eggs, the first thing you need to do after gathering all the materials and ingredients is to put a cooking oil in a pan and heat it up for 1 minute. While waiting for the oil to heat up, you can crack the eggs and beat them. You may also check out diet chart examples.

In this way, you are doing things simultaneously, waiting for the oil to heat up and cracking the eggs at the same time.

Applying this in the projects of a company, there are a lot of tasks that can be done simultaneously to be efficient in using your time.

5. Accountability

Documenting efforts and outcomes may be hard when project teams face major organizational change, but through the use of Gantt charts, the progress of the team doing a certain task can easily be tracked, including their victories and failures. These results are often the basis for salary raises, bonuses, and incentives. You might be interested in medical chart examples.

6. Clarity

Gantt charts are important as it can help break down multiple tasks and timelines into a single document, easily understandable by the users. There is a clear plot of the tasks and the time needed to complete the task, and the teams would have an organized step-by-step guide in achieving a certain task of project. You may also see price chart examples.

7. Communication

Gantt charts are also useful in communication as they can be used to replace meeting and enhance other status updates as the chart can already provide a clear visual presentation of the task progress to help the member understand the task.

8. Coordination

Gantt chart has the ability to sequence events or tasks and reduce the potential for overburdening the team members who are assigned to the task. This can also be used in combination with other simple charts to have a more manageable sets of tasks.

9. Motivation

Gantt charts can also motivate members in their respective tasks in a way that it tracks their progress, giving them the whole picture of what they have already done, what are the tasks they still need to do, and how near they are in achieving their project. You may also like monthly chart examples.

10. Creativity

In Gantt charts, there are several tasks intertwining which encourages collaborations by different individuals. Gantt charts can encourage the team members to find creative solutions on how to accomplish those tasks with ease and efficiency. You may also check out metric conversion chart examples.

Standard Gantt Chart Example

Thesis Gantt Chart Example

How to Create a Gantt Chart

Gantt charts can only be useful when the tasks are plotted properly. Hence, you must ensure that you are not missing any task for this will greatly affect the overall Gantt chart especially when the tasks that you forgot to include should be in the middle of the process. You have to think carefully not only the sequence for each task but also the complete set of tasks that you need to do in order to finish the project. You may also see size chart examples.

Here are some tips and steps on how to create a Gantt chart.

1. Identify Essential Tasks

Firstly, you have to identify essential tasks over those that are not necessary in the process. You need to know which tasks would aid in the completion of your project and those that would just cause a delay in your process. Eliminate those tasks that are not needed, and choose carefully which tasks are needed and are to be retained. You may also like color chart examples.

Make sure that you did not forget any tasks to avoid a change in the Gantt chart presentation. You do not want to start all over again when you only forgot a single essential task.

2. Identify Task Relationships

Next, you have to know the relationship of the tasks so you will know how to plot them in the chart. Some tasks need other tasks as a prerequisite before they can be done; hence, keep an eye on these tasks. They are called sequential or linear tasks. On the other hand, some tasks can also be done in parallel and simultaneously with another task, and these tasks are called parallel tasks. You may also check out exercise chart examples.

There are three relationships between sequential tasks, and they are as follows:

FS – finish to start; these tasks cannot start before a previous related task is finished, but they can start later.

SS – start to start; these tasks cannot start until a preceding task starts, but they can start later.

FF – finish to finish; these tasks cannot end before a preceding task ends. However, they can end later.

SF – start to finish; these tasks are very rare as they cannot end before a certain task starts.

Tasks can be sequential and parallel at the same time. For example, two tasks may be dependent on a previous task and they are parallel and can be done simultaneously.

3. Input Tasks into Software or a Template

There are a lot of software that you can use to in your Gantt chart such Gantto, Matchware, or Microsoft Project. Most of these software are cloud-based. This means that many people, you and your team perhaps, can access the document simultaneously, from any location so you can work together, discuss, and report on a project.

4. Update to Reflect Changes

The plans and preparations to achieve or work on a certain project is constantly changing. Hence, you must also constantly update your basic chart to those reflect changes as soon as they occur to keep your plans and your team up to date. This is also important so you and your team’s actions will reflect the updated plan. Updating would also ensure that you are still on track toward completing your project.

Final Say

A Gantt chart is important as it provides a visual presentation of the timed tasks or projects needed to be accomplished. It provides benefits, namely, manageability, time management, flexibility, efficiency, accountability, clarity, communication, coordination, motivation, and creativity.

Hence, a lot of people especially managers and CEOs are using Gantt charts along with other general charts in their planning and preparation.

Whenever you find yourself stuck on where to start in your project, do not forget that a Gantt chart can be of aid, and the examples and templates above can surely help you.